The present invention relates to confectionary tablets, and particularly to confectionary tablets that are coated with multiple coating layers each having different properties.
Numerous coated confectionaries are available. Many confectionaries, such as MandM""s or chewing gum balls, have a hard shell sugar coating. Some products, such as MandM""s CRISPIES, have a hard center, with a chocolate covering followed by a hard shell coating, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,207. Thus multiple layers of coatings are known. Other confectionaries, coated and non-coated, have breath-freshening properties. Some coated confectionaries have flavor in the coating layers. However, there is still room for improvement. For example, most products produce a high initial flavor impact that does not last. Other products may produce fairly uniform flavor impact over the duration of the time the product is in the mouth. If the flavor impact is high, it might initially be over powering. If it is low, it may not be satisfying if the product stays in the mouth for very long. Thus, it would be desirable if a product had an initial mild flavor impact that increased to a more intense flavor as the product remained in the mouth. Also, improvements in the center tablet composition and the coating layers themselves would be desirable.
A triple coated tablet confectionary product has been invented. With the triple layers of coating, the product has a unique overall coating. Also, in preferred embodiments the different layers of coating and the tablet center can have different levels of flavors so as to produce a product that has an increasing flavor level as it is sucked or chewed.
In a first aspect the invention is a coated confectionary tableted product comprising: a compressed tablet center; a first coating layer surrounding the tablet center and comprising a fat; a second coating layer surrounding the first coating layer and comprising a hard shell made from one or more sugars and polyols; and a third coating layer surrounding the second coating layer and comprising a film containing film forming agents.
In a second aspect, the invention is a multilayer coated confectionary product comprising: a center; a first layer covering the center, the first layer comprising a compound coating; a second layer covering the first layer, the second layer comprising a hard shell coating; and a third layer covering the second layer, the third layer comprising a film layer.
In a third aspect, the invention is a multilayer confectionary product that builds in flavor intensity as the product dissolves in the mouth comprising: a film layer that provides a mild flavor impact; a hard shell coating under the film layer and having a higher flavor impact than the film layer; a compound coating layer under the hard shell coating and having a higher flavor impact than the hard shell coating; and a tablet center inside the compound coating layer.
In a fourth aspect, the invention is a method of producing a multilayer confectionary product comprising the steps of: providing a center forming a compound coating layer over the center by applying multiple coats of a molten compound coating over the center, with cooling between coats to solidify the compound coating; applying a hard shell coating over the compound coating layer by panning the compound coated center by applying multiple coats of a panning syrup comprising a sugar, a polyol or mixtures thereof; and applying a film coating over the hard shell coating layer by applying multiple coats of a syrup containing one or more film forming agents.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a tableted mint is coated with a compound coating of sugar/fat/milk protein to give a soft coating. The soft-coated product is then sugar coated to give a hard shell to make a hard panned coating on a tablet. The product is then finished with a film coating. In each of the coating levels flavor, sweeteners, and cooling agents are added in such an amount to give the impression of increasing flavor intensity as the tablet is chewed or sucked. This type of product is unique in its composition and delivery of intense flavors for breath freshening effects.